One Missed Message
by BrokenByMagic
Summary: Rose texts the wrong man by mistake. How will this mistake impact her life and can these messages continue or will Rose have to face the consequences that come to those who cant think clearly?
1. The Text

Rose Weasely, daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasely, two thirds of the Golden Trio and the closest friends of Harry Potter, had made a terrible, horrible, mortifying mistake; she had sent her text to the wrong person.

She swore to herself as she cursed the day she was born, that she would never, in all her days, drink again. She was supposed to be a genius like her mother and yet here she was.

Even if she hadn't sent the damned text to the wrong person it would still be mortifying.

She groaned and ran her hand through her hair anxiously, gnawing at her lip as she stared helplessly at the message.

Memories of the night before were slowly drifting through her mind, leaving her more embarrassed with every passing thought.

* * *

"C'mon, Al! It's one drink. It won't kill me to drink one more," laughed Rose who seemed to be conveniently forgetting the several others she had already had, "Besides, I already paid for this one, so it'd just be a waste of money."

Albus eyed her anxiously before finally agreeing, quite reluctantly, that, "Fine, one more drink and then that's it."

She squealed and hugged her cousin, leaning heavily on him and sighing happily, "Oh I'm so happy you came to drink with me, even if you're not drinking. I need someone to keep an eye on me."

Albus scoffed in wordless agreement as Rose continued rambling, "Ever since Zachary broke up with me – ever since he broke up with me, I just – I feel so sad!"

Quite suddenly, Rose Weasely burst into wet, ugly tears. She wept like a newborn, and wiped clumsily at her wet cheeks, "Albus, why did Zachary break up with me?"

Albus looked entirely helpless and concerned as he watched his cousin and shrugged, "Because Zachary was a prat. Besides, you broke up with him, remember?"

She bawled harder, shoulders shaking as her tears poured out. When sober, she rarely even thought of the man she had dated in Hogwarts though, as people are prone to doing, she couldn't tear her thoughts from him when she was drunk.

She excused herself to go to the loo and stumbled away. After washing her hands at the sinks, it suddenly struck her as the perfect idea to text her ex so, being quite proud of herself for thinking of it, she pulled out her phone and searched for his number.

She had every person in her contacts listed under a nickname, so she looked up the name Bastard, which had been what she had changed his name to after their breakup and texted one line; "I miss you."

* * *

Rose Weasely, top of her Hogwarts graduating class, vice president of SPEW and secretary of the Minister of Magic, stared in horror at the message and, worse still, the response.

"I miss you."

"Weasely? What's going on?"

"I miss you, you prat, tell me you miss me too."

"We just saw each other earlier today at the ministry…"

"Why can't you just tell me you miss me?"

"I don't know what's going on here, but fine. I miss you too Weasely. Maybe go for a cup of tea together after work Monday?"

"Perfect. See you there, gorgeous."

Rose stared in rising horror as she stared at the name, "Bastard."

Uppercase B. Zachary had been a lowercase B because he was low class while she had named someone else Bastard for being a high-class bastard.

Malfoy.

He worked as a representative for his father's company, the pharmaceutical industry having called to Draco and his talent with potions. He made negotiations and handled the financial affairs in the Ministry in an office space near her own and they had sparked up a shaky tolerance for each other.

They had ignored each other for the most part in Hogwarts and had therefore been quite surprised to find each other forced into near daily proximity when they had both settled into their respective positions .

How could she have sent the message to Malfoy? He was one of the only people in all the world she would have preferred to send the message to less than her own ex-boyfriend.

She called Albus and began to gnaw anxiously at her thumbnail as she waited for him to answer, pacing around her flat as she waited for the call to go through.

"Hullo?" asked Albus groggily, his voice deep and husky with sleep.

"Al, what do I do? I am such an idiot. What am I supposed to do?" She almost felt like crying again as she spilled the entire story to her dearest cousin over the phone.

When she finished, the line was silent in stunned silence, "So, wait a moment. When you went off to the loo, last night, you went to text Zachary but forgot that there were two assholes in your contacts and texted Scor instead?"

He cackled gleefully, and Rose winced both in pain due to the noise and her hangover and the reminder that Scorpius and Albus had been good friends for quite some time, "Yes. I texted Malfoy instead of Zachary and now he has gone and invited me over to tea tomorrow! What do I do?"

"Have you responded yet?" Albus sounded entirely too excited at the prospect that Rose's life was crumbling around her.

"No. I don't know what to say!"

"Rose. Do yourself a favor and just say yes. You can either have a nice cuppa with him or you can explain what all happened last night and why you were so desperate for attention. It's that simple."

"Albus Severus, you know there isn't a single simple thing about that entire plan. Malfoy and I are not meant to have nice cuppas or casual conversations. Do you have any idea how long it would take him to stop teasing me if I dared tell him the reason I texted him last night?"

Rose groaned in horrified frustration as she contemplated the future before her, "I really don't have a choice, do I? Either I pretend that I meant to send him the texts or I admit that it was a mistake."

"You're right as always, Rosie. Ill be right here as soon as you're ready to tell me how it goes."


	2. The Deal

Rose paced anxiously outside the Ministry, running her hands through her bright red hair and trying desperately to think of every possible outcome for the conversation that was to come when the work day would end.

She could already hear the blonde prat's laughter when she would have to tell him that she had meant the text for Zachary, her ex-boyfriend.

She sighed and stilled her restless feet, closing her eyes and trying to find a quiet corner of her mind to calm herself down. Once found, she released a deep breathe and marched forward into the looming building and completed the same ordeal as any other employee that didn't take the Floo.

She strolled through the first level of the Ministry, making pleasant greetings to the many people and creatures she found and finally boarded the elevator that would take her to her level.

As the elevator clattered along, Rose opened her purse and peered inside, ensuring that she had her muggle money, wizarding coins, her wand, her enchanted pocket watch (Which she didn't like carrying in her pocket) and her security keycard.

After going through her internal checklist, she looked up just as the door was opening onto her floor. She smiled politely and gently maneuvered her way out before the doors closed and strolled over to her desk, humming quietly as she immediately set about tidying up her workspace and ensuring the schedule for the day.

She chimed in to the Minister to see if there was anything that he required and, as soon as she had his confirmation that no, he was "Quite fine for now, thank you," she continued with everything else she had to do.

Rose Weasely took pride in working hard and always sought of more work. Because of this, she often took on other jobs from other departments as well when they were falling behind or when the Minister didn't have time to see to a document or something of that sort.

She paused her tireless work when she came across a familiar name, "Malfoy Manufacturers." She gazed at the elegant script of the document before eventually tearing her eyes from the sloping M's and reading carefully.

She found herself quite interested in the proposition they were asking for, "We would like to formally request permission to officially begin prototypes of a new strand for obliviation. We are aware that, yet, there has been little to be found in reversing the effects of said spell but believe we, of the Malfoy Manufacturing, may have the key to breaking through this timelessly impenetrable layer."

She couldn't help but allow herself to be drawn deeply in, recognizing Scorpius Malfoy's long-winded writing. He was usually rather reserved, but his business propositions never failed to meet standards.

Scorpius Malfoy, heir to Draco Malfoy and all his empire of businesses and titles galore oversaw handling the Ministry half of the Malfoy Manufacturers and was, therefore, entrusted with writing up propositions such as these.

Normally, any other business would not have to ask for such express permission to continue with finding a potential cure but, despite everything that had changed since the Wizarding War, the prejudice against the Malfoys required the Ministry keep a keen eye of them.

Rose was usually intrigued by their thoughts and theories though this one peaked her interest. Her grandparents, Helena and George Granger were still living quiet lives in Australia and had, to this day, no knowledge of their daughter nor their two grandchildren.

Rose had only ever heard of them and how they had come to have lost their memory and had always hoped they would remember her mother. She bit her lip and read over the last few legalities before signing the proposition and sending it on for approval.

Nearly an hour later, the man himself entered the floor, nodding in greeting to Rose and walking confidently over to her desk, "Weasely," he greeted.

"Malfoy." Rose returned the short greeting to Malfoy, the memory of the accursed text replaying in her mind.

"I trust you will still be joining me after work, will you not?" he asked quietly, voiced pitched low as if trying to keep someone else from hearing.

Rose swallowed thickly, steeling her nerves, before nodding, "Yes Malfoy, I won't be able to get out until nearly eight though, will that be alright?"

Scorpius Malfoy nodded his platinum haired head and tapped her desk with his index finger, "Sounds fine. I'll be seeing you around eight, then."

Rose nodded again stiffly, eager to end the awkward and stiff exchange.

Scorpius strode away into his own office and Rose gave a sigh of relief, sinking back into her seat and checking the time. Eight o'clock had been generous, it was already nearly 6:45. If she wanted to make that time she would have to work quickly.

She worked feverishly, reading through documents with haste and bookmarking many for tomorrow. She planned a total of three meetings and approved two new hired into the Aurors academy and had just finished and unexpectedly long call to Gringotts's before finally packing her things once more and glancing at the clock once again anxiously.

She winced, "Forty-five minutes isn't too late, is it?" she sighed and informed the Minister she was leaving early before hurrying into the offices, heading quickly to the Floo stations before finally realized that she had no idea where they were meeting.

She pulled out her phone and hastily opened it to find that she had one missed message from "Bastard". She groaned and opened it, expecting an insult or something similar but was instead surprised to find a much kinder message within.

"Ill be in the muggle café across the street. Take your time, I'm in no hurry."

She hesitated a moment before realizing she had already made him wait long enough and that she no longer needed the Floo. Instead she typed a hesitant message into her screen.

"I'm sorry, I only just saw this message. I didn't realize the time. I'm on my way now."

She chewed on her bottom lip nervously before summoning a mirror and ensuring she looked well enough. She finger combed her long hair and groaned as she finally accepted that there was simply no way she would ever get the curls under control.

She had grown up with stories of the Malfoys and, though they had never said nor done anything against her she had always been cautious not to incite their insults or scorn which meant she had no desire showing up to their encounter looking as panicked as she felt.

She walked much more casually out of the Ministry, spotting the café where she often ate for lunch and walking towards it.

A bell chimed above her as she scanned the small crowd within for the familiar platinum mop of hair. Finally, she spotted him, sitting in the corner-most seat, a small latte sitting in front of him as he gazed idly out the window at the evening street.

She walked over to him and sat down quietly, his eyes sliding over to her slowly before a small nut pleasant smile graced his features, "Weasely."

She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes directly, "Malfoy," she returned by way of greeting, "I'm sorry I'm late. The minister was in a meeting and I had to attend to a goblin at Gringotts who was reporting a fluxuation in the…."

She trailed off as a waitress bounced over to their table and placed a steaming hot cocoa with cream and cinnamon on top in front of her, "Here you are miss, you both let me know if I can get you anything."

Rose blushed and thanked the waitress, embarrassed that the wait staff evidently knew her order based on how recently she ate there, "Anyways," she stuttered, clearing her throat, "I'm sorry for being late."

Scorpius maintained his pleasant smile as Rose rambled and nodded when she finally settled on a simple apology, "Of course. I understand that you keep yourself busy, Weasely. As I had said, I am in no hurry. It gave me time to think.

Rose frowned slightly, "Think about what? Not to pry I mean – sorry, none of my business – sorr – "

"About the fact that you obviously didn't mean to send the message to me. I already knew that, of course, but regardless. What I can't figure out, however, is why I was messaged at all. It can't be as if I am in your recent contact list." Scorpius mercifully interjected mildly, as if talking about the weather and not Rose's biggest embarrassment of her life.

She swallowed thickly and stirred her hot cocoa before taking a sip as Scorpius waited patiently for the answer to the mystery, "I – I meant to text someone else. My ex. I have the two of you saved under the same name in my contacts."

Scorpius frowned slightly, cocking his head in curiosity, "Which is?"

Rose's mouth was dry as a bone, feeling much as if someone had just placed the entire Sahara behind her lips, "Bastard." She mumbled.

Scorpius laughed softly, the miniscule smile returning as he looked upon his embarrassed peer, "I understand. So, you meant to message him but messaged me instead. Easy mistake."

Rose nodded, glad he was being so understanding and not angry, or worse, trying to find humor in the situation.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have named you Bastard in my phone and I should have been more careful."

Scorpius shook his head and waved her apologies away good naturedly, "It not an issue, I assure you. Since the mistake was made, lets make a day of it. Ill take you somewhere to eat, get to know each other a little better and then you can change my name from Bastard to something else. What do you say, Weasely?"

He looked at Rose curiously though far from expectantly and Rose found herself more curious about this man than ever before. Before she knew what she was doing, she was nodding her head and asking, "Tonight, or tomorrow? Or is there another day that suits you better?"


	3. The Dinner

Rose was, quite simply, terribly embarrassed. Scorpius Malfoy was nothing short of perfectly polite and gentlemanly and had, as far as she could tell, no reason to ever be called a bastard.

She tried to think back to when she had nicknamed his phone number and realized, with an ever-growing sense of unease as they waited for their food in one of the fanciest diners in London, that the only time she had even bothered to glance at his number had been when she had first entered it in in their final year of Hogwarts.

* * *

Rose, who had turned seventeen the day before, grinned excitedly at Albus as she handed him her Hogwarts yearbook, filled to the brim with well wishes and moving photographs to remember everyone by, "I can't believe it, Albus Potter. This is it, all of our hard work is finally paying off."

Albus laughed at his cousin as he wrote his own light-hearted anecdote in her yearbook, rolling her eyes as she rattled on, "You're acting as if you're excited to leave Hogwarts."

Rose laughed and shook her head, the idea of never returning to Hogwarts doing anything but excite her, "No. I'm just excited to finally start my life outside it. Ill always love Hogwarts but I'm eager to see what else the world can offer without protective barriers, walls and professors."

Albus laughed again and finally looked up from the page he had been writing on in Rose's yearbook and smiled widely at someone behind her, "Scorpius! Hey, come here and sign our yearbooks."

Rose turned to see the platinum haired young man, only two months older than herself finish writing his phone number in a girl's yearbook and approach the two of them slowly, casting Albus, her cousin and his friend, a strange look.

"Weasely." He said, by way of greeting.

Rose nodded back stiffly, feeling incredibly awkward, "Malfoy."

Albus rolled his eyes and thrust Rose's yearbook into Scorpius's hands, "Here, this is Rose's sign it and then sign mine."

Scorpius hesitated a moment before pulling out his own, "Would you like to sign mine as well, Weasely?"

Rose reached for the smooth leather book and opened the front cover, surprised to find only a few other signatures and well wishes within.

She thought for a moment on what to write and then finally decided upon a simply;

"Malfoy, I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to know you better. I wish you the best in your future and all that you do. – Rose."

She handed the yearbook to Albus you glanced at Rose's before signing his own much more personal passage. Beside her, Scorpius cleared his throat politely and handed her back her yearbook, "See you around, Weasely."

Rose nodded her acknowledgement as Scorpius walked away, signing another yearbook for a fifth year.

She watched as he wrote down a ten-digit number and told the girl to have a nice summer and then watched him repeat the process with every other girl who stopped him. She pulled out her phone and typed in the phone number, saving it in her contacts as Bastard.

* * *

"Weasely?" Inquired Scorpius, watching Rose turn the same shade as her namesake as they sat in relative silence, "Weasely, if you are uncomfortable eating dinner with me, you don't have to stay."

He spoke quietly, as if careful not to scare her aware and she was embarrassed by her behavior, "No, not its fine, I was just trying to remember why I had named you Bastard, sorry."

He smiled slightly, leaning forward to give her his full attention, "And? Did you remember?" He asked, his head tilted to the side much like a dog who was curious about what his owner was eating.

Rose cleared her throat, "The yearbook ceremony. Seventh year. I saw you writing down your phone number in everyone's yearbooks. I thought you were a player and thus…" She trailed off, mortified as she heard him laugh softly.

"Well. I am glad it wasn't anything I did. I was often thoughtless in our Hogwarts years but, I assure you, I don't make a habit of giving out my number anymore. Besides, I can promise you this, not a single other person got my actual number at that ceremony."

Rose blinked as Scorpius smirked at her, "Sorry? What do you mean by that?"

He took a sip of his water and shrugged, "If I wrote down just any number in your, Albus would have ratted me out. Everyone else, however, got a random string of digits."

Rose stared at the slightly smug Malfoy in front of her and then laughed, feeling much of the tension relieve itself as she laughed.

A waiter came over to their table and took their order and Rose found herself falling into easy(ish) conversation with the man across from her, "The Cannons are a good team, sure if you don't mind losing every game and dealing with the same players season after season despite them proving its time to be let off."

Rose scoffed, "As if the Ravens are much better! They have been an obsolete team for ages now. They haven't made it to finals since our parents' Hogwarts days!"

Scorpius waved her argument away, "Finals don't mean anything but a pointless competition, the Ravens are an elite, albeit somewhat outdated, perfectly supportable and self-sustaining team. The Cannons still rely on trust funds and charity group despite being a profession team for decades now."

Rose pointed her spoon at him threateningly, "Just because they accept charity doesn't make them any lesser a team or it members any less qualified. If anyth-"

"Ahem."

Both participants of the conversation jumped slightly and turned to face the waiter who smiled indulgently at the both of them and handed each their plates.

Once they had been eating for a little bit, Rose found herself asking, "So tell me about what the Malfoy Manufacturers is up to. I think I read a proposition today and I was hoping you'd be able to tell me a little more."

Scorpius looked startled and then, to her surprise, slightly embarrassed as he reached to rub at the back of his neck and a faint pinkish glow tinged his neck, "Oh, you wouldn't want to hear about it, it's really nothing… I'd hate to bore you when I'm trying to make a good impression."

Rose reached midway across the table before she knew what she was doing and rested her hand there in awkward reassurance, "No! No, it didn't sound boring at all. The way it was worded and put together actually got me really interested. I've always been curious about the effects of Obliviation, so I'm quite interested."

Scorpius studied her eyes for a moment before hesitatingly beginning to describe what he and his father had discovered and its possible effects and benefits.

They talked for hours, long after they had finished eating and as he walked her home and when they finally reached her apartment she stood facing him and smiled, reaching into her pocket and pulled out her phone, typing quickly and then gleefully showing off the screen.

Scorpius squinted against the bright screen for a moment before he focused on one thing.

"Not A Bastard."

He laughed. It was a full laugh, complete with wide grin and shaking shoulders and he patted her on the shoulder once as if to commend her humor, "Goodnight Weasely."

Rose smiled, "Night Malfoy.

And he disapparated.


	4. The Night

Rose unlocked her door and walked into her apartment, smiling slightly as she reflected on how well the night had gone.

Scorpius, she thought again, was a perfect gentleman. He had been polite, kind, friendly, and humorous. She felt silly for not having really spoken to him before but shrugged it off as a misunderstanding that couldn't easily be fixed now.

She closed her door behind her and locked it again, "So how was the date with the gorgeous bastard?"

Rose screamed, flattening herself against the wall and pointing her wall at the shadowy figure across the room who yelped and ducked for cover, "Rose it's me!"

Rose sighed explosively with relief and lowered her wand, sagging against the wall and sinking to the floor, "Damn it, Al! You nearly gave me a heart attack! What the hell are you doing here?"

Albus stood back up from behind the couch with his hands raised in surrender, "Relax, Rose, I just came to ask about your date. Admittedly I probably could have given you more warning but, in my defense, I wasn't expecting to be attacked."

Rose frowned and shook her head, "It wasn't a date, Albus. It was two people – practically strangers – having dinner to clear up a misunderstanding. And, I'll have you know that it was a very enjoyable meeting as well."

Albus laughed, "Sounds like a first date to me, Rose. Its good for you, what is this, the first date since the Ravenclaw?

Rose sighed, doing her best to simply ignore Albus but unable to let a misunderstanding stay, "One, his name is Zachary Jettisons, not 'the Ravenclaw' as that could mean just anyone, including myself. And two, it wasn't a date, it was a meeting."

Albus laughed again and flopped down on Rose's couch, "Yeah, whatever. All that matters is that I can finally have the two of you in the same room as each other, right?"

He looked up at Rose hopefully and she sighed, feeling a slight tug at the corner of her mouth, "Yeah, sure Albus. The three of us can all go for coffee tomorrow or something."

Albus shook his head, counting the days on his fingers before shaking his head again, "Tomorrow wont work but the day after is good for me. You might text Scor to see if he can come too."

She frowned and sat across from him and sighed, "Why can't you text him? You've been friends for years whereas we are only just getting to be acquaintances."

Albus nodded, "All the more reason for the two of you to get closer as fast as possible. You're both my best friends and its inconvenient having to split my time for the both of you so its much easier if the two of you became good comrades as well."

Rose laughed and waved her wand at the kitchen area to brew some tea, "You're ridiculous, Albus. How do you expect us to be such good friends as quickly as you're obviously hoping?"

Albus thought for a moment before grinning, "Text him. Tell you what, Miss former Ravenclaw, Ill give you homework. Your homework is to find out his favorite color by the time we meet up for coffee. If you do, Ill buy. Deal?"

Again, Rose sighed, "I feel like you're trying really hard to make sure we are friends Albus. But fine. Since I love you, ill do my best to get to know Malfoy better."

Albus stood and intercepted her steaming cup of hot tea as it floated over and drank it quickly, ignoring her outburst, "Great, thanks Rose. See you in two days." And he dissaparated

Rose summoned another cup of tea to her and sipped it in silence, mentally composing the text she was going to send to Malfoy. She set her tea on the table beside her and opened her phone, tapping out a short message and smiling slightly.

"Malfoy, sorry to be a bother as I'm sure you're already comfortable and tired with dealing with me for one day but I have a certain cousin, I believe you are familiar with who would like to know if you'd have coffee with the two of us the day after tomorrow."

The response came relatively quickly, startling Rose who had set her phone aside without expecting a reply within the night.

" Miss Rose Weasely, I assure you, you are not bother me, nor was I comfortable. I enjoyed your company today and would be pleased to accompany you and your prat of a cousin."

She laughed at the equally formal message and typed out another message, falling into a rhythm of texting with the man.

"I'm sorry, again, for naming you Bastard."

"Ha-ha, no worries Weasley, that id hardly the first time I have been called such. Besides, it lead to the fulfillment of your note in my yearbook."

"Did you find it just to see what I wrote?"

"Perhaps. I was curious as to what I might find."

"Anything interesting?"

"Not particularly save for the fact that five years have taken their toll on Albus and more than half of our graduating class."

"Meaning?"

"Have you seen Zachary Jettisons lately? Looks a little rough around the edges these days, if I do say so myself. Seems someone else got the better end of the breakup."

Rose laughed and immediately logged into Facebook to do some purely professional stalking of her ex-boyfriend.

Sure enough, there he was. He was a mess, pudgy in the most unattractive ways, a patchy beard because he couldn't grow a full one. Shirts that didn't fit, beer stains on his clothes, always posting picture either of him sweaty with some caption referring to working out though it was obvious he hadn't in a while or, and this was worse by far, him posing with fictional, nearly naked women and calling them his waifus.

"Merlin, I just saw his Facebook profile. Thank Merlin, Godric, Salazar, Rowena, Helga, Dumbledore and Voldemort I broke up with him while he was still sane(ish)"

"Voldemort?"

"Figured he was worth throwing in. I can't believe I used to think Zachary was right for me. There had to have a better option in Hogwarts that would have taken me."

There was a long wait after that message and Rose sat staring at her screen for a time, waiting for a new message.

A part of stressed over the lack of a response but knew it was silly. She knew she wasn't the most attractive woman in the world and part of her was trying to whisper dark thoughts that she was ugly, that there hadn't been any other choices and that she had missed her chance for a family when she left Zachary.

She shrugged the thoughts away and soon determined that he must have fallen asleep as it was late. Besides, she mused, there was nothing saying, he had to respond. She didn't even know why she had sent the last message. It made her look needy and in need of reassurance.

She sighed and decided she had had enough stressing today. So, she plugged in her phone and set it on the bedside table and got ready for bed.

She took a long hot shower and changed into the warmest and comfiest clothes she owned and laid down, snuggling into her blankets before falling asleep.

In her dreams she was being tormented by a man with a receding hairline and was calling out to a shining stranger across the street who was riding a giant duck quite regally. Instead of saving her, he pulled out his phone and took a picture. The flash of his camera made the hairline man run away.

In the midst of her dream, she did not notice Scorpius Malfoy's message when it arrived,

"Rose Weasely, you had the pick of the school."


	5. The Misunderstanding

Rose stared at her screen, as she often found herself doing lately and bit her lip.

Not A Bastard: "Rose Weasely, you had the pick of the school."

Merlin's beard, what did that mean? She groaned loudly and flung herself backwards onto her bed and sighed harshly, "Why don't I know what to do?"

She was Rose Weasely, daughter to two thirds, top of her class and the minister of magic's secretary, she was supposed to know what to do when someone sent a curveball.

Biting her lip once more, she lifted her phone again and flicked through her contacts until she found someone who might help. Her thumb hovered over the name, dreading the consequences before clicking on Messy Fox.

Rose: "Lils, I have to ask you something."

An eternity passed before her replay came,

Messy Fox: "Lmfao, AYOR"

She already regretted texting her wild cousin,

R: "English please, I need to know something,"

MF: "AYFKM, fine. Wat do u ned?"

She was willing to ignore the fact that that barely counted as English,

R: "If you were told by a person that you had the pick of the, let's say office, what the hell does that mean?"

MF: "Wus this persn, b/g? vry important"

R: "A guy?"

MF: "Y r u asking me?"

R: "Fine! A guy."

MF: "omfg, I need mor info 4 answers"

R: "I've known him since Hogwarts and we recently became friends but when I was talking about Zachary this guy told me that I had had the pick of the school."

MF: "Was it Scorpius?"

She stared blankly at the screen and groaned again, nearly throwing the device before deciding better,

R: "Did Albus say something?"

MF: "OBS, OBTW, he ment that any of the guys wud hav ben up 4 being wit u"

Rose blinked at the words and shook her head, a near permanent frown creasing her brow as she read and reread the words. What kind of joke was that? Everyone knew it had been the exact opposite in school. She had been LUCKY to have finally found a boyfriend in Zachary. Surely, the Scorpius Malfoy from the last few days couldn't have tried to mock her so blatantly.

R: "Are you sure? That doesn't seem very Scorpius like,"

There was a pause and then,

MF: "How well do u no him? He wus my house evry smmr not 2 mention he was n my Hog house."

Rose didn't bother replying, choosing instead to ignore her annoying cousin and making a mental note to thank her later when her head wasn't spinning from the misspelled words and senseless acronyms.

Lily was usually right about situations like these, nearly always right actually. Not that Rose had any firsthand experience with needing her advice that was.

She typed and retyped the message a thousand times before finally hitting send before she could type it again.

Rose: "oh ha ha very funny. Make fun of the girl who was cheated on and had to dump her boyfriend."

A delay and then,

Not A Bastard: "Pardon? I fear I have missed an integral part of the conversation here…"

R: "I could have had my pick of the school? What kind of joke is that? I was a nerd with messy red hair, charcoal on my nose and mismatched socks, I hardly had suitors lined up outside my dorm."

Another long delay. She was suddenly glad that it was one of the few days that she didn't work or else she would have already been late.

NAB: "My apologies, I did not intend to be offensive. Though, in my personal, and entirely unbiased opinion, I believe you make yourself sound entirely less attractive than you were."

She gaped at the words and couldn't help the small scoff from escaping as she saw the words before another message appeared,

NAB: "Excuse me, miss Weasely. I have to return to my research. Continue the conversation later?"

She threw her phone against the wall and shattered the screen with frustration. Why couldn't she stay mad at Scorpius anymore? Why wouldn't he get angry? Why did he have to be so polite and reasonable and nice?

She reached for her wand and flicked it toward her phone, repairing it as it flew to her hand.

R: "Sure Malfoy"

There wasn't another response.

She felt a vague sense of guilt in her chest for her somewhat hostile reaction and sighed again, deciding to apologize when they continued their conversation.

Despite herself and her apparent mood swings (Perhaps she had started her period early?) she felt a strange bubbling of excitement in her chest at the thought of that "Later" he had promised.


End file.
